


Eternity in a Tattoo

by FlOrangey



Series: Eternity's Blue Butterfly [1]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Poetry, Talking about mothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-25 21:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18269630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlOrangey/pseuds/FlOrangey
Summary: V notices the Eternity tattoo on Nico's ribs.





	Eternity in a Tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> I love Nico. I love V. Here's something with the two together.

They had very little time to rest, but after wandering the city for hours, V found himself drained. That last fight had forced him to him use far more power than he wanted, leaving him feeling cold and clammy. Horses that could stop time did little to slow down the process going underneath his skin. His body was breaking down. He could feel it with every summon and every step. It was still easy to ignore, but it wouldn't for long.

Resting would delay the inevitable so while Nero was out surveying the streets, V decided to (with Nico's permission of course) lay on the van's couch and try and rest. Try being the keyword. Sleep was difficult to get, as it had been for the past month. Anxiety made his chest tight enough that it could be hard to breathe and he sometimes worried that if he fell asleep, the energy holding him together would fade and he'd crumble. That he'd die before he saw his mission to its end.

He felt the ink on his body crawl and heard a purr in his ear. He shushed the concerns of Shadow with a whisper, “It's alright.”

Another - loud and somewhat obnoxious - voice made him wince. _“You sure, V? That last fight-”_

“I promise Griffon, I'll be fine.”

“You ain't talking in your sleep are ya?”

That last voice was not one of his familiars and hearing it made him crack his eyes open. Standing over him was Nico, looking a mix of confused and concerned. He hoped her expression was not out of pity, he did not like being seen as weak. He kept that thought to himself. 

“My familiars are just... worried about me.” He muttered. Nico had her arms crossed as she looked him over, a cigarette between her fingers. "Did you need something?"

His question was answered when a grin crossed Nico's face and she crouched down so they were closer to eye level. He recognized that look. It was like the one she gave Nero when she gave him one of his Devil Breakers. “Come over to my workstation. I put something cool together with that part you got me.”

He stared at her, not quite sure he had heard her right. He must have been in more of a daze than he thought. “Wouldn't it be more appropriate to show it to Nero?” He asked. She shrugged.

“Well, he's not here to bask in my genius. You'll do.” She gave him a light smack in the shoulder and straightened, “Besides, I wouldn't have come up with this without your generous contribution, so you should get to see it first.”

She walked away and V watched her before slowly sitting himself up. He brushed the sleepiness from his eyes and stretched a little. He really should just say no and lay on the couch for as long as he could. Griffon seemed to agree. However, if there was one thing he learned about Nico, it was how insistent she could be about showing off her work. Or art as she called it. Indulging her now would be better for him in the long-term.

He wasn't sure what exactly to make of the technical genius and unofficial brains of Nero's half of _Devil May Cry_. She was quite confident in her skills; not just a mechanic but a self-proclaimed artist, and from the tattoos she was undoubtedly proud to show off, it was safe to say she considered her body a canvas just as much as her workstation. Were he living another life he probably would have looked down on her style of dress, but it was obvious it was purposeful and his current circumstances had been more than a little humbling. 

And he found it hard to criticize anyone who could look Griffon in the face and talk back at him. He still couldn't believe she threatened to cook the bird. The bickering had brought a smile to his face and a sense of glee he hadn't felt in... how long had it been? When was the last time he really smiled around someone?

He stopped thinking and pulled himself to his feet. His cane helped him keep balance as he walked over to her. Nico had been waiting and with him present, she pulled her so-called 'masterpiece' out and placed it on the counter. 

“Tada, here it is.” She said. It, like everything else she had made on this job, was a Devil Breaker for Nero. It looks a little different from the others. It was a little larger and looked less like a hand and more like a glove. “I tell ya, that piece you gave me was a beaut. A horse that can slow time? That's just begging to be made into something badass.”

V started at the glove, then looked at Nico. “And you've harnessed that power and put it into this?”

"Yup! Well, probably.”

V raised an eyebrow at her. “Probably?”

“In theory, it works. In practice? Won't know until Nero gets back so he can try it.” She grinned, “But that's when the real fun happens. Put'er through the wringer, see what works, what breaks, and make adjustments. Best case scenario just needs a few tweaks and it'll be good to go.”

V took in her explanation and after some thought asked, "And the worst?”

“It'll blow up. Usually what happens.”  She hummed a little, contemplating other issues, “But we are playing with time here. That explosion could throw Nero into a wormhole, make him exist outside of time and space, eventually have him go mad from the isolation.” She caught herself as the morbidity of her words set in and doubled back, “B-but there’s no chance that would happen! Just thinkin' out loud and getting a little carried away.”

She let out a nervous laugh and hearing it made a smile creep onto V's face. “Let’s hope not. If we lose Nero, might as well call it the end of the world.” His words were true, if cold. They both knew it. He looked back down at the Devil Breaker, “Your work is impressive. I doubt we would have been as successful as we have been without you.”

Nico’s eyebrows shot up a little, her grin shifting into a smirk as she leaned against the back counters. “Are you giving me a compliment?”

“That's the intent.”

“Aww, you’re sweet.” Nico’s voice had a lightness to it he wasn't quite sure how to respond too, but being called sweet made him glad he knew how to keep a straight face. “I mean, I know Nero is grateful for all the work I do for him, but it’d be nice if he threw me an actual thank you now and again. Then again _Devil May Cry_ is a bit of a thankless job. Come home exhausted and covered in sweat and demon guts...”

She continued to ramble and V continued to listen to her. However, when she stretched his eyes noticed something he had not before and her words fell into the background as he focused on it.

A small tattoo of verse scribbled in cursive. The pronouns had been changed and half of it was obscured by her shirt, but he knew what it was the moment he saw it. “Interesting...”

“What is?” Nico asked then moved her fingers to her the exposed skin just below her chest. She lifted the shirt slightly. Just enough so he could see the rest of it. “This thing?”

“ _He,"_ he paused. He should read it for how she saw it. _"She_ _who binds to herself a joy, Does the winged life destroy;_ _But she who kisses the joy as it flies-”_

_“Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.”_ Nico finished, her fingers caressing the words inked onto her chest. V listened to how she recited the line. There was a calmness in her voice. A softness that was different from her usual loud and brash nature, but he could not help but notice she also sounded a little sad.

“You know of William Blake.” It was not a question. Nico nodded. When she looked back at him she was closer to her usual behavior.

“Does that surprise you? Thought I was all tools and no class, huh?” She asked, sounding more amused than anything. “My mother loved poetry, William Blake was her favorite.”

Her mother’s favorite... V could feel his chest becoming tight and once again was relieved he was good at keeping a straight face. His grip tightened on his book a little, but it was below the counter and easy to hide. “Blake was also my mother’s favorite. I suppose you could say she passed that love onto me.”

“Explains the book. Wouldn't be surprised if you had over half of that thing memorized.” Her words made him laugh a little. She smiled, running her fingers across the counter. “There’s a few others she liked. The Tiger, but most know or like that one.”

She was not wrong, but V found himself thinking of it anyway. He wondered how much she knew. _“Tiger, tiger, burning bright-”_

_“In the forest of the night. What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?”_ Nico paused and frowned. “Well, when you say it out loud it doesn't really rhyme well. Eye...symmetry. I mean if you stretch the ‘y’ you can get away with it, but then it just sounds weird.”

“Perhaps it did rhyme at one point?” V suggested, looking away at his book before turning his attention back to Nico, “The world is very different now than it was when Blake walked it.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Words change and all that shit.” Nico said, reaching into her pocket for her pack of cigarettes. She then stopped herself and placed them on the counter. “I wonder what he was talking about in it.”

“In the Tiger?”

“No, Eternity,” Nico explained. V stared at her, a loss for words before finding some.

“You tattooed yourself with a poem you don't know the meaning too?”

“What, you gonna judge me for it? With how you look you're the last person who should be.” The bite in Nico’s words made V step back from the counter, but then her face fell and she shook her head. “Sorry, I...” She sighed and straightened, then grabbed the potential time altering devil breaker and hung it up with the others. The silence in the van made the air far harder to breath then any of the woman’s cigarettes could. V looked down at his book, his fingers moving across the spine, then the cover.

There were many reasons to love words, even if it was not because of the intended meaning.

“It’s believed Blake wrote it because he saw a butterfly.” He said. Nico paused and turned back to him.

“A butterfly?”

“ _He_ _who binds to himself a joy, Does the winged life destroy_ _;_ ” V sighed and started to make his way back to the couch. “Humanity is...wonderful, if vain by nature. We have an insatiable desire to hold onto things that we consider beautiful, but beauty is often said to fade with age. So we try and preserve that beauty. Through death. Forgetting that it’s the life that makes it beautiful in the first place. _But he who kisses joy as it flies, Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.”_

He took his seat on the couch and leaned back against it. His eyes were beginning to feel heavy and he could already hear Griffon getting ready to berate him for moving around. He let them close for a second, only opening them when he felt the couch move a little. Nico had taken a seat next to him, crossing her legs, staring at him.

“It’s one of my mother’s favorites. When she died, things became difficult." She told him, looking away for a moment before looking back at him, "You ever lose yourself because something horrible happens? To you or a loved one?”

If she only knew… V was quiet as she kept talking.

“Well, I did for a bit. Lost myself. Ran with some questionable people, did a couple things I regret. But one day I was cleaning out some old boxes and saw an old book of poems. One of the pages were folded. Pretty sure it’s obvious which.” Another simple nod, “I got those words placed near my heart because...it felt like she was still here. Well not 'here' here, but in spirit. Looking out for me. I know, sounds dumb but-”

“It’s not.” V’s voice was barely above a whisper. He dropped his head and rubbed his eyes before looking at her. “It’s good to have something that makes you feel close to family.”

"You have something like that?"

V gave her no answer, leading the woman to snap her fingers and break the silence before it became uncomfortable. “That's it! I think my next one’s going to be a butterfly.”

“Next one?”

“Next tattoo. What else?” She said, moving her hands as she explained, “A beautiful butterfly. Medium size, decent enough to notice. Perhaps blue...or green? No blue sounds better. Maybe with..." she trailed off and V saw her face light up. She jumped to her feet and grabbed a pencil and small notebook before sitting back down next to him. V leaned forward to watcher her, and saw her flip through the pages of the book. He caught a glance at several sketches and complete pictures. Prototype designs for what he now knew were Nero's devil breakers. Black and white sketches of various items. Guns, flowers, ...fruit? V's eyes fell off the page and onto Nico's left arm.

It was the same as her sleeve. She designed the tattoos she had inked on her person. So when she reached a blank page and began to sketch the image he found himself watching. A few simple lines, but slowly the image began to take shape and once the basic outline was there, Nico began adding details and shading. V leaned back and took a deep breath and let it out. He let his eyes close, the sounds of Nico's sketching and the outside ambiance making him feel at ease. He felt relaxed. Comfortable.

His eyes snapped open when he felt Nico's knees hit his leg. He looked at her to see she was facing him. "Well? Looks good, don't it."

She showed him the sketch. The butterfly was detailed, the outer edges of the wings darker than the rest. A long, thin, tail curled under like a signature. Even just as a simple pencil sketch, V could imagine how it would be colored. He looked at her. "I like it."

Nico's grin was wide. "I think it'd go good. Here, under the poem." She said, placing her hand in the spot in question. "Gonna hurt a bit more than usual, but think it'd be worth it in the end. You know what I'm saying?" He nodded. "Alright, then you're coming with me!"

He froze. "What?" He asked as she closed the notebook shut.

"When this is over, after we cut that goddamn tree down and kick Urizen's ass, I'm getting this beauty to celebrate." She explained and pointed to him, "And you are coming with me. Wouldn't have thought of it if not for you, you should be the first to see the final product. So how about it?"

V stared at her, keeping a straight face even as his mind began to shuffle a mile a minute. But he did smile and nod. "I'd be happy too." He said. The statement made Nico smile and then as though remembering something she swore under her breath and got up from her spot. Suddenly with the free space, V laid back down and stared up at the ceiling before closing his eyes again.

_"Hey V, you uh, gonna tell her?"_

He slowly shook his head and after hearing Shadow's purring, let himself be lost to silence.

 


End file.
